Various types of harvesting apparatus for fruit, and the like, have been proposed, but as yet none has had any great commercial acceptance, particularly in the citrus industry. Complaints include previous harvesters missing or damaging an unacceptably high amount of the fruit, or damaging the tree, or being too slow in overall picking operation or too bulky to be effective in picking fruit in inner or upper portions of a tree.
Various harvesting apparatus or fruit, and the like, is shown in issued patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,107 shows a comb type harvester, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,654 shows a somewhat similar harvester having a rotating auger. A harvester having a roller for grasping a single fruit at a time and releasing it from its limb is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,787, in which the stem of the fruit is received in an upwardly opening notch to break the fruit loose from the limb. Because of the small sized entry for the fruit into the harvester, it is almost mandatory that an operator be positioned at the harvesting head, as indicated by the bucket hoist for an operator. Another patent using a roller for picking a single fruit at a time is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,698,508, has a side entry for the fruit so that precise positioning of the head is required. Another patent having a side entry, but of greater height than the immediately preceding patent, is U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,024, in which a pair of jaws have a series of vertical grippers which close on the fruit so that the fruit is stripped from the limb as the harvesting head is withdrawn from the tree. Another harvesting apparatus for citrus fruit is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,105, and has pairs of rollers for picking the fruit and delivering the fruit to a special conveyor which forms part of a telescopic boom for the harvesting head. The rollers of each pair are driven in opposite directions and at different speeds. Additionally, the rollers are pneumatic and guards are provided for limiting entry of a tree limb.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and useful harvesting apparatus. More particularly, another object is provision of such apparatus which is efficient in picking the fruit and relatively easy to operate. Still another object is provision of a new and useful fruit harvesting apparatus, or the like, which is rugged, durable and economical in construction, and easy and inexpensive to maintain.
A feature of the harvesting apparatus is an adjustable boom and a harvesting head connected to the free end of the boom for effectively universal movement of the head relative to the boom. More particularly, the head may be tilted from side to side and from front to rear, and may be turned from side to side and, if desired, may be moved toward or away from the free end of the boom, thus providing for effective coverage of the entire tree.
Another feature of the apparatus is a harvesting head which is relatively narrow so that it may be positioned for picking fruit from upper an inner portions of a tree, with an elongated upwardly opening entrance for the fruit to facilitate operating the head from a location on the ground. A movable member of the head engages the fruit and moves it through a passageway having a short nip portion through which the fruit is rotated just sufficiently to free it from the limb and then release the limb as the fruit passes from the head to a suitable collector. The movable member may be in the form of a roller or a sphere having a substantially uniformly resiliently yieldable surface for engaging the fruit and moving it through the passageway with the fruit in engagement with a fixed surface of the head which also preferably has a substantially uniformly resiliently yieldable face for engaging the fruit. Provision of a fixed face opposed to the movable face provides a head which is relatively narrow, while permitting the head to be elongated so that precise positioning of the head relative to a group of oranges or other fruit to be picked, is not essential.
The width of the nip portion, which grips the fruit, may be adjustable either by adjusting the position of the fixed side wall, or by raising or lowering the movable member, or both. An upwardly opening entrance to the passageway effectively prevents the fruit from dropping away from the head after the fruit has been engaged by the roller or sphere, as is likely to occur with a head having a side opening entrance.
In brief, the invention is directed to harvesting apparatus for fruit, or the like, the apparatus including a vehicle having an adjustable boom mounted for carrying a harvesting head. The head is mounted on the free end of the boom for effectively universal movement to provide for easy and effective positioning of the head relative to the fruit to be picked from a tree. A movable member, in the form of a roller or sphere, for example, forms part of the head and cooperates with an operationally fixed member of the head to provide a passageway having an upwardly opening entrance for the fruit and a nip portion for rotating the fruit to break it free from the limb. Both members are preferably each of substantially constant resiliency. The nip portion is preferably adjustable for accommodating fruit of different sizes. Fingers, extending along the length of the entrance, limit movement of a limb lengthwise of the entrance as the fruit is picked from the limb, the fingers being upwardly movable for releasing the limb after the fruit has been removed.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.